Australia’s Governor-General, Ms Quentin Bryce AC, visited Thailand on April 24th and 25th, 2011 to attend Anzac Day services at Hellfire Pass, marking 68 years since the beginning of construction of the infamous Thai Burma Railway.

“In World War 2, twenty-two thousand Australians were captured defending Malaya, Singapore, and the Netherlands East Indies. An estimated 8,031 died in captivity as Prisoners-of-War (POWs) of the Japanese.

Some 13,000 Australian POWs were transported to Burma and Thailand to work on the 420 kilometre Burma–Thailand Railway where nearly 2,650 Australians died from disease, deprivation and horrendous brutality at the hands of their captors.”

… the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee of Queensland

In memory of Bill Haskell, Australian soldier, interviewed in this program.

Rod McNeil

Rod McNeil is an Australian radio and TV presenter who is now living and working in Thailand. For several years he has been enjoying a new frontier of travel and great experiences throughout this ancient Kingdom and beyond, seeking out unique people, places and events that make this colourful region worthy of its amazing reputation. Many of these stories were initially broadcast in the programs of Capital Television.